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In my opinion, one of the sites in Jordan with the most potential is Tall Jalul.  The largest tell south of Amman, Jalul has not yet been identified with a biblical site (and there are plenty of names to choose from).  Five seasons of excavations have been conducted since 1992, and the site was occupied from the Late Bronze Age to the Persian period.  Discoveries include a paved approach ramp, two gatehouses, large tripartite building, clay figurines, and engraved seals.  You can read a longer summary here.

Excavations for the 2009 season will commence on May 25 and you can follow along on the new Tall Jalul Dig Blog.  They have already made several interesting posts, including a couple of (large) PowerPoints about the previous excavation seasons.  Among the interesting slides, there is a good aerial photograph of the tell on slide 27 of part 2.

Tell Jalul approach ramps, tb061204372-1 Tall Jalul paved approach ramp to city gate, June 2004
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Eisenbrauns’ Deal of the Day is:

Ancient Place Names in the Holy Land: Preservation and History, by Yoel Elitzur (2004). List Price: $65; Today: $26 (60% off)

The book description begins:

That many ancient toponyms in the Holy Land have survived for thousands of years, right up to modern times, is a remarkable and unique phenomenon, ELIANCIENunparalleled in neighboring countries, such as Egypt, Mesopotamia, or Asia Minor. Preserved toponymy provides a basis for research in the historical geography of the country and is also of major importance for studies in the history of Hebrew and Aramaic, being a kind of ancient “recording” of an archaic linguistic inventory. In addition, it has many implications for a wide variety of other scholarly fields, such as Bible studies, Rabbinics, Qumran and Samaritan studies, early Christianity, Arabic and Islam. This reserve of preserved place-names is therefore frequently consulted and used by scholars for their purposes.

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The traditional tomb of Ezekiel is being renovated by the Iraqi government. From the Jerusalem Post:

The Iraqi government has launched a project to renovate the interior of the prophet Ezekiel’s shrine in the small town of Kifl, south of Baghdad, and the country’s Ministry for Tourism and Antiquities says it hopes to eventually repair and renovate other Jewish sites across the country.
“The ministry is concerned with all Iraqi heritage, whether it is Christian or Jewish or from any other religion,” ministry spokesman Abdelzahra al-Talaqani told AFP. “The present plans do not include the synagogues in Baghdad, Basra, Mosul, Fallujah and other places because of lack of funding, but I think they will be included in future plans.”
Iraqi Jewry was once one of the largest and most prominent Jewish communities in the Middle East.
But after Israel’s establishment, more than 120,000 Iraqi Jews moved to Israel in the 1950s in a clandestine operation dubbed Operation Ezra and Nehemiah amid an outbreak of anti-Jewish violence.
Outside the shrine of the prophet – who followed Jews into the Babylonian exile in the sixth century BC – is a 14th-century brick minaret, while the inside is shaped like a synagogue, with old wooden arks that used to contain Torah scrolls and the remains of a Mehitza – a separation for men and women….
The tombs of the prophets Daniel, Ezra, Nahum and Jonah are also purported to be located in Iraq.

You can add this to your list of sites to visit on your next trip.

Ezekiel's Tomb, Kifel, Iraq, mat13265Traditional tomb of Ezekiel, exterior, 1932
Photo: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-DIG-matpc-13265
Ezekiel's Tomb interior, Kifel, Iraq, mat13271Traditional tomb of Ezekiel, interior, 1932
Photo: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-DIG-matpc-13271
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Construction work in Bethlehem this weekend revealed a Roman tomb.  From Maan News:

Roman-era catacombs were unearthed in Bethlehem Saturday during construction in an empty lot beside Bethlehem University.
The small underground cave system opens facing north, and held four stone coffins with engravings on each, housed in two separate dug out burial areas.
Head of Antiquates [sic] department in Jericho Wael Hamamrah estimated the artifacts, complete with skeletal remains and some pottery are between 1,800 and 1,900 years old.
Construction workers preparing to lay pipe in the yard called Palestinian tourism and antiquates police when they went to investigate the sudden collapse of earth in an area they had been digging in that morning.

The full story and six enlargeable photos are here.

HT: Joe Lauer

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If you’re interested in the visit of the Catholic Pope to Israel next month, the Israel Ministry of Tourism has established a website: Holyland Pilgrimage: A Bridge for Peace.  Questions of just how interested in peace the pope is have been raised following reports of his plans to meet with a terrorist-supporting mayor in Galilee.

The ministry has also created a 5-minute video in preparation for the visit.  The video features stunning aerial photography of numerous sites in Israel and is worth watching even if the pilgrimage doesn’t get you excited.

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